The Late Come-back Line

Yesterday I had another case of a good come-back line coming too late.

I was working in a department where I haven't worked before so there were lots of people I haven't met. I was quite enjoying helping rich people find their perfect $500 accessories and then dealing with unhappy customers not happy that their $500 accessories broke the day they put them on.

(Note: Brand names DO NOT equal good quality.)

I was also enjoying the company of two guys who were absolutely hilarious and entertaining. (Now, why aren't there any straight guys like that?)

Anyway, at one point a really tall (not gay) cute guy comes up to me and just looks at me with a weird smile on his face. I (being the naive me) thought he was going to introduce himself. However, he didn't say anything for a few seconds so I said, "Hi". And he just kept standing there looking at me. I was about to introduce myself if he wasn't going to say anything. Hey, maybe he was just shy, right?

No, very wrong. Before I could tell him who I was, he said, "You look nice." And some woman, out of nowhere said, "Don't believe him, he says it to every girl."

I, not being used to hearing things like that from guys, couldn't think of anything sharp to say back but just rolled my eyes or something equally boring. After he left, I couldn't stop coming up with better ways of reacting:

1. "Looks can be deceiving" (although this one seems a bit too flirty now.)
2. In a bored innocent voice "I know. That's because I am."
3. In a very irritated voice, "Well, I'm not as nice as I look."

There were also a number of variations and combinations of the above.

Actually, looking back with hindsight, the eye-rolling was probably the least embarrassing reaction with minimum consequences.

I guess the only reason I couldn't stop thinking of better ways of reacting because I never want to be the same as all the other girls he said it to. Not because I liked the guy since I don't like that over-confident type but because I can't stand the thought that I'm just like everyone else.